On my recent trip to Poland we stayed at my uncles farm in the Carpathian mountains. My daughter Mimi was in milky heaven. 40 or so cows chewed on juicy grass all day to produce the perfect milk, which after the daily milking by hand and machine she drank and drank. Her ideal world would be formed in butter, yogis, creams and quarks. So strange that milk has had so much bad press recently. There is almost a witch hunt out there. If you have bad skin, digestive problems or are simply a bit down it’s probably because you are lactose intolerant and not cultured enough to have your decaf latte with soy milk.

There is nothing more comforting than a glass of hot milk with honey on a dark chilly evening.

For the time being I might be soy- intolerant. No soymilk, tofu or sprouts for me.

I am very excited and a bit nervous about my next project which brings me to Karachi in Pakistan.
The recent floods have caused food prices to triple in the already poor and politically unstable nation.

For 3 month the Zagreus project in Berlin will become a humanitarian aid station of a different kind.
It will host a dinner for paying guests each night. A mouthwatering 5 course menu will be prepared.
The menu will be delicious wintery German interspersed with the herbs and spices of the east: Cardamon, cloves, mace and saffron, caraway and cumin seeds flavour the elaborate banquet like in medieval times.

The identical ingredients up to the last grain and seed will be packaged up in a large parcel each night with exact instructions on how to prepare them and send to a host in flood ravaged Pakistan. One of the worst-ever natural disasters has caused food prices to triple in the already poor nation. Pakistanis of different classes and religious backgrounds are all invited to make a meal for friends and family.
All ingredients are of course useful in their own right, but a special recipe book will be illustrated and translated into Urdu and added to the package with the hope that they will experience a parallel banquet in very different circumstances.

At the end of the night diners are invited to write a note and the parcel is closed together and send to the specific parallel dinner party.

The recorded delivery slip is kept each night and framed and hung on the wall of the gallery with photographs of the diners.

Menu *

Berlin Taftan- leavened bread flavoured with saffron and cardamon, sprinkled with caraway seeds.
Food parcel Pakistan Breadmix with saffron strands, cardamon pods and caraway seeds.

Berlin Goosepate on dried prunes with chutney
Food parcel Pakistan Can of goosepate , a pack of dried prunes and a jar of chutney

Berlin Mushroom Risotto with Parmasan shavings with mace and black pepper.
Food parcel Pakistan A sack of Arborio rice, a bloc of Parmesan, dried mushrooms, mace and pepper

Berlin Sauerbraten (Beef stew) marinated for a week in bayleaves, juniperberries and cloves with a traditional potato dumpling
Food parcel Pakistan Canned beef,  bayleaves, juniperberries and cloves, vinegar and dried potatoe dumplings

Berlin Marzipan Stollen
Food parcel Pakistan Marzipan Stollen

BerlinLebkuchen Kulfi Popsicle
Food parcel Pakistan, UHT milk, wooden lollipopsticks, Lebkuchen

* subject to change after my trip to Karachi at teh end of October.

http://www.zagreus.net/

Mitessen dinners and the accompanying exhibtion will run from 20th of November 2010- 26th of January 2011.